Abstract:

Habits make the lifestyle and lifestyle makes the person. The world has a huge space and each human being occupies but a very small part of it at any given moment. We are living our everyday lives in this a huge space, accomplishing our daily routines. As technology has developed, transportation has evolved fast for better convenience and punctuality. A lot of devices are invented to help human beings communicate with one another very easily with so-called ‘social networks’, without seeing them in person. Due to this, human beings are becoming increasingly distanced from each other in the real world, although not in the social networking world, which has weakened our social health. As the population has grown, housing types have changed according to the condition of society. More people had to occupy limited spaces, particularly in cities. Apartment-type buildings, therefore, which can accommodate more people in less space, became an unavoidable solution, nowadays being essential in cities. Apartment buildings do, however, cause problems, especially relating to human social health. Apartment blocks cut off the relationship between private space (personal apartments) and public spaces outside of the apartment, for example. Apartment buildings are erected vertically, therefore stairs and elevators are compulsory elements to be able to get to each apartment. The effect of those spaces, which can be called transitional spaces, is growing in importance. In fact, the majority of apartment designs don’t really take the transitional space into account in the design phase as much as the personal apartment space, owing to the demand for more and more private space by residents. This is because the transitional space affects people not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. It is easy for designers to overlook the transitional space during the design phase. This housing design project aims to provide positive experiences for the users and bridge the gap between public and private space. The final design result will thus affect the users’ behaviours, as well as their mental and emotional wellbeing, encouraging a positive mindset and lifestyle which ultimately leads to social health.